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Sunday, 30 November 2014

SENATOR PROMISES TO GET TO BOTTOM OF SH600 HEALTH GRANT

Nakuru county senator has urged county residents to be calm over alleged misappropriation of money meant for its referral hospital pending his office’s ongoing investigations.James Mungai said his efforts to get proper facts over alleged misuse of over Sh600 million earmarked for the Rift Valley General Hospital were futile forcing him to start private investigation on the complaints.“I wish the complainants would have sought relevant facts before going public because that is huge amount that if put into proper use can improve the county folks’ lives greatly. As a senator of Nakuru county I have launched my own investigations on this matter and very soon will come out with the true scenario of the issue,” he said.Mungai was responding to a claim by two Nakuru county legislators that the money was misappropriated yet it was earmarked for building a maternity and buy equipment for the Level 5 Rift Valley Provincial Hospital.Senator Mungai disclosed that according to reports, the money was a conditional grant sent by the government to cushion county governments offering medical services to patients from other counties for using their Level 5 hospitals.“But I’m yet to know whether proper procedures were followed in using the money as every grant should be used as per the granter’s conditions and in this case the granter was the government,” he added.Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama, his Bahati counterpart Kimani Ngunjiri and medics in the hospital had accused the county government of alleged misappropriation of over Sh500m out of the total Sh600 million earmarked for the new maternity and purchase of health equipment.The money totaling Sh600m was transferred early this year from the Treasury and was meant for construction of an ultra-modern maternity that was to cost Sh300m at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital.The other Sh 300m was to buy equipment to upgrade the medical facilities.Our impeccable sources divulged that Ngunjiri, Arama and some Nakuru county MCAs led by former county majority leader Mwaura Njenga held a consultative meeting at a Nakuru hotel where according to the source they made plans to sue those implicated.Other MCAs present were Catherine Njeri (nominated), Steve Kihara (Dundori) and Francis Njoroge of London Ward.However, Nakuru Town east MP David Gikaria has distanced himself from the issue which recently threatened to initiate a recall process against Governor Kinuthia Mbugua for ‘condoning corruption and impunity’.